Assassin's Creed: War of the Roses
by ShadowWarrior99
Summary: During the time of division in England with the War of the Roses, Irish Assassin Gabriel Corrigan will take advantage of the strife to enact vengeance against a Templar Grandmaster who killed his parents and friends. The story will follow Gabriel throughout his whole life as he seeks justice for the dead, and to also find peace in himself.
1. Chapter 1: Small Beginnings

**Author's Note: Welcome! This is my first story/project! I apologize for how short it is, but this is mainly to start off Gabriel's story. If you have any feedback, please feel free to review. If you liked it, let me know. If you didn't, let me know what you think I could do to improve. I want to hear what you all think of this, because I hope to make this a fairly long story. Finally, please enjoy and have fun!**

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><p><strong><span>Northern Ireland, October 10, 1460<span>**

Red and orange leaves fell around Ian Corrigan as he walked down a small dirt trail back to his house. Trees colored by autumn lined both sides of the path and created a peaceful ambiance. A gentle breeze blew against the Irishman's smiling face as he listened to the songs of the birds in the branches above. With this entire setup, Ian could not help but feel that everything was right with the world. He looked down to the bundle of white and red roses in his hand, and his smile widened. He had taken a day's trip to go to a small meadow he knew of. His wife was pregnant, and was expecting their first child any day. He had been reluctant to leave her side, as she was expecting to give birth very soon, but he knew how she enjoyed the sight of these roses and wanted her to have something nice while she was in labor. He began to speed up as he neared his farmstead. He was getting excited. He wiped a few beads of sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, taking a deep breath as he tried to contain himself.

_I'm going to be a father…I'm going to be a father!_

He grinned as he exited the small path as it opened up into a large clearing. There were several buildings in sight, some of which included homes and a large barn. He had inherited his father's rather large farm, and on it he raised about two dozen cattle and grew wheat and potatoes. He sighed in relief as his eyes settled on his own home, which was atop a small hill on the far side of the farm. He stood there silently for a moment, before he stepped off to complete his return home. He continued to smile and have a skip in his step as he walked through a path between wheat fields, his excitement growing.

"Ian! Ian!" The Irish farmer heard his name being called from somewhere ahead of him. The tone of the beckoning had a sense of urgency, so Ian frowned. He eventually saw one of his farm hands, Sean, sprinting towards him.

Ian's frown deepened, "What is it?!" He boomed back, trying to make sense of what was happening.

The young man continued to sprint, "It's Tara! The baby's comin'! Right now!"

Ian's expression went from a frown of confusion to slack-jaw surprise. It took him a moment as he regained his wits, and then he took off at a dead sprint towards the household. He didn't want to be late. He wanted to watch his baby be born, to hold the child and comfort it as it entered the world. He breezed by Sean, who slowed down so he could turn around and run after him, and neared the fence surrounding his house. He easily leaped over the short fence, and rushed the door. He nearly burst right through it as he shoved the door aside to enter as he heard the most beautiful sound he had ever heard: the cry of a new born infant. He quickly walked into his bedroom, and was greeted by his wife Tara laying in bed, sweaty and breathing hard as she had just given birth, and one of his farmhands holding the infant. The child cried loudly, unused to the light and dry air of the world.

Ian's worried and nervous expression instantly vanished, and was replaced with sheer awe. Nothing could be better for him right now. His wife looked up as she finally noticed him, smiling tiredly at him. "Hey…" She said softly.

Ian's eyes never shifted off of the baby. The child was clearly a boy, and he was the most wonderful thing he had ever seen. "Hey…." He said absent mindedly. After a few more seconds, he got the impulse to hold his newborn. He was about to move to take him, but he remembered the roses in his hand. He looked down to them, and saw they were actually in pretty bad shape from his mad dash. He internally grimaced, and put on a fake smile as he looked to his wife. "I, uh, got you these…" He said, holding the wilted and drooping flowers up for her to see.

"I noticed." Tara teased, still smiling at him. "Put them down on the bed. They're beautiful." She said, appreciative of not their appearance, but of the thought and the effort that were put into retrieving them.

Ian nodded, moving over to the bed to set the roses down, and then walking towards the child. "May I?" He asked the farmhand, Colin, holding his now nervous hands out for the boy. Colin nodded, grinning, "He's a big one, Ian. You should be proud." He said kindly. Ian nodded as the boy cried while being passed to his father. Ian felt his heart leap as he pulled the child close, hearing it cry softly in his arms. He quietly and gently tried to shush the baby; feeling tears of happiness begin to swell up in his eyes.

Tara smiled as she watched her husband cuddle the child, feeling that all was well in life. Ian noticed her looking at him, and returned her smile. "He's just…..wow…." He said, speechless.

"What should we name him?" She asked, reaching for the white and red roses that laid on her bed.

Ian looked down at the child, rocking him as he tried to calm him. He seemed to ponder the question for a moment. After searching for an answer, his mouth slowly drew into a grin.

"How about Gabriel?"


	2. Chapter 2: Lessons to be Learned

**Author's Note: ****Like before, if you liked this chapter, let me know. If you didn't, tell me what I could do to improve. I will hopefully have the third chapter out...next week? It's going to be a defining point in the story, so I want to make sure I don't rush it. Please fav or follow if you really enjoy. If you don't want to publicly offer constructive criticism, feel free to PM your concerns or suggestions.**

**Thank you again. Every bit of help and support is appreciated. Finally, enjoy! **

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><p><strong><span>Northern Ireland, July 23, 1468<span>**

Gabriel, who was now seven and a half years old, crouched down in a small patch of long grass. He was at the edge of a thick treeline surrounding a small emerald green pond. Gabriel was about three miles away from his home, but that didn't really bother him. He came here often, in the hopes of catching a very specific type of prey. He was not a farmer like his father, but found more joy in the thrill of the hunt. He felt his fingers curl tighter around the small recurve bow he held in his hand. It had been made and fashioned by the boy in his free time, so it did seem a little unappealing to the eyes. But Gabriel liked it. He had made it, as well as the quiver on his back and the arrows that occupied it. They were rough and minimum, but judging from the results of previous hunts, they got the job done.

The target for the day was a red deer, a silent and quick creature, but one the boy was used to hunting. Many deer liked to come and rest by the small pond, enjoying the cool water that it provided. He had discovered this a long time ago while hiking with his father. He had told Gabriel stories about how he would come out to the pond, and watch the deer there. His father wasn't a hunter by nature, but he had taught Gabriel some of the finer points that he knew. Gabriel had appreciated it. His mother disapproved of his hobby in hunting, saying he should be helping more on the farm. But his father disagreed, believing that he already did enough work on the farm, and that he should hunt if that was where his interests lied.

Gabriel decided to prepare for his prey to appear. He reached back slowly and silently, trying not to make much noise as he pulled an arrow from his quiver. The arrow was smooth, as he spent much time carving them and crafting them. They weren't pretty, but he had some standards. He eased his arrow down onto the drawstring slowly, not pulling back on it yet as he was still waiting.

_I hate waiting._

Indeed, if the boy had one major weakness, it was his impatience. He had constantly scared off prey when he first started hunting about six months ago, always firing too soon before he had a clear shot. It was only after about two dozen missed shots that he finally was able to convince himself to wait a bit longer between the time of seeing the deer, and actually going for the kill. Still, it did not mean he had to like it. He sighed as he looked around from his hiding place, checking to see if his prey would be arriving soon.

_….Nothing._

The boy sighed again, leaning back on his haunches as he accepted that he would be there a while. He kept looking, hoping and waiting for something to show up soon.

_2 Hours Later_

After hours of waiting, Gabriel's unfocused eyes caught some movement in their peripheral vision, causing him to almost jump. His eyes darted over to the motion, and Gabriel's jaw nearly dropped. It was a huge red deer, with antlers bigger than any deer he had caught before. They were bigger than his arms. He began slowly pulling back on the drawstring and arrow, but didn't bring it up. He was getting ready to make his move, but not yet. The deer began slowly walking towards the pond, its eyes glancing over some of the nearby bushes. Gabriel nearly held his breath. Every muscle in his body ached to stand up and take the shot, but he knew better. The deer lowered its head down to the water, lapping at the water gently.

Gabriel almost wanted to leave it alone, admiring how majestic it was. But this would be his greatest prize. He pictured himself walking into his house as his mother prepared dinner and holding up the antlers proudly for her to see. "Look at the size of 'em, Mother!" He heard himself say in the scenario. He grinned slightly at the thought, all the while starting to absent-mindedly pull back fast and hard on the drawstring, his excitement having become too much to bear. This sudden pulling caused the drawstring to create a tad too much tension on the bow for subtlety, and caused it to creak softly.

This was all the sound required for the deer to look up in Gabriel's direction. It seemed panicked, as was Gabriel. "No!" He muttered under his breath as he brought the bow up to fire, fearing it was about to run away. And sure enough, as he let the arrow fly towards its target, the deer took off away from the pond, running as fast as it could. "No!" Gabriel exclaimed as his arrow buried itself in a tree across the clearing, and he stood up to take off after the deer. He sprinted down the narrow path that leads away from the pond. Dark trees lined the sides of it, and deep shadows shrouded the pathway. Despite the darkness, Gabriel could make out the silhouette of his prey. He pushed his tiny legs as fast as he could, trying to keep up with the full grown animal. It was getting farther and farther away from him. As he ran, he slowed down just a bit to reach back and pull an arrow out of his quiver. He set the arrow on the bouncing drawstring as he ran, and pulled back. With a growl, he fired this one off, having put as much weight on it as he could.

The arrow whizzed by the deer that now turned a corner, the arrow skidding across the grassy ground as it found nothing to hit. Gabriel began to slow down, suffering from fatigue and knowing he would never catch it. He tightened his hands into fists, and threw the bow down to the ground. He slid his quiver off of his back, and placed it down by a spot near a tall tree. Gabriel then plopped down beside his quiver, leaning his back against the tree. He sighed, rubbing his hands through his jet black hair in frustration. He leaned his head back against the hard trunk of the tree, deep in thought. How could he have been so stupid? So impatient? Now what would have been the greatest deer he had ever successfully hunted was long gone.

He sighed once again, kicking himself mentally for what he thought was his greatest flaw.

_An Hour and a Half Later_

Gabriel walked with heavy steps out of the dirt trail leading to his home, and was greeted by the fairly large farm that was owned by his family. He stood at the mouth of the trail for several seconds, surveying the land ahead of him. He was greatly disappointed, and didn't really want to interact with anyone. All he really wanted to do was sleep, and try and forget about his failure. He took a deep breath, and then began walking down to the path through his father's wheat fields. The summer sun beat down on the boy, only souring his already poor mood. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his sleeve, shaking his head as he felt miserable.

He could see his father up ahead, and he internally moaned as he could tell he was coming to greet him. His eyes began to get watery as he feared the disappointment that his father would have at his failure. He tightened his fingers around the bow, starting to feel tears running down his face. As Ian got closer to the boy, he could see the sad expression and tears on his face, as well as his usually bright green eyes seeming cloudy. He frowned, unsure of what the problem was. He got concerned, "Hey, what's the matter?" He asked as the boy approached.

Gabriel's fingers shook as he squeezed the bow tighter and tighter, until eventually, he dropped it to the ground and ran to Ian. He embraced the older man tightly, beginning to sob as his face was buried in his chest. Ian brought up his hands to bring his son closer to him, "Hey, hey…It's alright….What happened?" He asked, looking down at the crying boy.

Gabriel sobbed for a minute longer, before he pulled himself back a little to look at his father. "I lost it….The deer…..I lost it…." He said, continuing to cry.

Ian nodded slowly, trying to understand what about this had upset his son, "It's fine, son. It happens to the best of us." He said comfortingly.

Gabriel shook his head, sniffling. "No, it isn't…..It was the greatest deer I had ever seen…..antlers bigger than my arms….It was just….Beautiful. But, I…..I got impatient. I got too excited. He heard me, and took off. I tried to catch it, but…..I wasn't fast enough." He sobbed.

Ian nodded slowly once again, now seeing what the issue was. He lowered himself down onto one knee so he could be eye-to-eye with Gabriel, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey….Like I said, it happens to us all…..From the sound of this deer, it sounds like it was a pretty full-grown and well-developed creature. Did it hear you before you became impatient?" He asked.

Gabriel wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve, his face turning red because of embarrassment. He was ashamed for crying, for not being able to get the deer and now for his father seeing both failures. "Yeah…" He managed to say.

Ian nodded, "Not many people can sneak up on a deer. They have some sort of sixth sense, you see. Usually they'll feel you coming or that you're hiding, and they'll just take off. But you? You actually got to watch it. It didn't even know you were there. That's amazing….." He said, then squeezed the boy's shoulder. Gabriel seemed to be looking anywhere except his father's eyes. "Gabriel, look at me." He said gently. The boy responded immediately, looking his father in the eye.

"I know you're upset. In your shoes, I would be too. But you know what you can do with this?" Ian asked.

Gabriel frowned, unsure of what the answer was. "What?" He asked promptly.

"You have two options: you can remain upset, feel disappointed and never gain anything from this experience. Or…." Ian paused, starting to smile. "You can accept that today was a rough day, but also learn from your experience. So you got impatient. Everyone does. But it all comes down to how we handle that impatience…..Self-control, son. Train yourself to be patient. Every time you think about letting your impulses guide you and control you….think of the deer. Think of how if you just wait…You'll get the greatest prize you could ever wish for." He said.

Gabriel looked down to the ground, thinking long and hard. He mulled his father's words over in his head, and then slowly nodded. "Okay…..Thank you, Father." He said, cracking a small smile.

Ian grinned, standing up. He swung his arm around the boy's shoulders, "Good. Now come on. Your mom will have both of our hides if we don't get in for supper." He said.

Gabriel managed to laugh, "Okay." He said, smiling.


End file.
